Page 46 - Сахалину с любовью : литературный сборник

advanced followed trying to skate away against the wind.
Then it was the classic cross country skiers. The
visibility was seriously reduced to a few meters.
Snowflakes tormented our faces. After what seemed
quite long, I spotted the first km sign that showed the
distance passed. It was only 5 km! Courage almost left
me, but I gave myself a mental whip: “come on,
conditions are bad for all of us, you have started this and
you shall finish!”
But tough it was. Three times we hoped we would
turn into the forest out of the wind, but again the track went
on into the flat field. In some places the skate-track was
quite narrow and several times I found myself eating snow
because the tips of my skis got stuck in the edge. Very
tiring. Also for the classic skiers there was no proper track
and the temperature changes caused either thick sticky packs
under the skis or no grip at all. Finally the track headed up
the hills into the forest out of this terrible wind. That
climbing was involved (my least favourite), did not bother
me anymore.
The organization was perfect. There were three tea
posts at strategic places along the route. They gave bread with
salt and as much sweet tea as you wanted. The reward for the
climbing was of course going downhill. After the 22 km tea
(point of no-return) I felt much better. Until that moment I had
gone quite steady, but the wind had taken quite some of my
energy. I tried to concentrate on my gliding technique and I
overtook a few others. Reaching the last 10 kms I recognized
the terrain and I smelled home. The brass band played a nice
tune and I was announced as “Dewoeshka iz Gallandia (a girl
from Holland). That felt great, and that’s why you do this, I
thought when I passed the finish after 35 kms. It turned out that
I was second in my age category. I guess it is like Old Dutch

Сахалину – с любовью 44